Topical Index: Salvation

Christmas Day

Song Service

December 25, 2005

Pastor: Wayne Eichstadt

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The final candle in the Advent wreath, the white center candle, is the Christ Candle. It represents the fulfillment of prophesy — the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Light of the World.

Pre-Service meditation: Psalm 98 (Joy to the World is a paraphrase of this Psalm)

Christmas Proclamation

“There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!” [Luke 2:11]

Church Choir: Do You Hear What I Hear?

Hymn: Christmas is Dawning

Invocation

The Light of the World is born—the heaviness of sin’s darkness is lifted. Oh, come let us rejoice and be glad in our hearts for the child laid in a manger is the eternal Son of God, our Savior, and our brother. We worship in the name of the Father who sent His Son to be our Savior, in the name of the Son who willingly took on human flesh and sacrificed Himself for us, and in the name of the Holy Spirit who enlightens our hearts with the knowledge of salvation and preserves us in saving faith.

Prayer

Lord God, cleanse our inward sight, that we may understand Your teaching, love Your truth, and be renewed in spirit. Let it be our delight to hear again the message of the angels, and in heart and mind go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass. Amen.

The Dawn of Christmas

(as told in Scripture and hymns)

The Shroud of Darkness: Isaiah 59:1-10

Isaiah describes the darkness of sin and unbelief

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.

Hymn: Good Christian Men Rejoice

The Promise of Dawn: Genesis 3:8-15

God first promises a Savior—the descendent of Eve who would crush Satan’s head.

And [Adam and Eve] they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Hymn: See in Yonder Manger Low

1. See in yonder manger low, born for us on earth below,
   See the gentle Lamb appears, promised from eternal years.

   Refrain
   Hail the ever blessed morn; Hail redemption’s happy dawn; Sing through all Jerusalem: “Christ is born in Bethlehem.”

2. Sacred Infant, all divine, what a tender love was Thine,
   Thus to come from highest bliss down to such a world as this.

   Refrain

WS 711
©Public Domain

The Foredawn: Micah 5:2-5a

Micah foretells the Savior’s Birth

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; And this One shall be peace.

Hymn: O Little Town of Bethlehem

1. O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
   Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by;
   Yet in thy darkness shineth the everlasting Light;
   The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

2. How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is given!
   So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.
   No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
   Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

TLH 647
©Public Domain

Dawn: Luke 2:1-20

Luke’s Account of Christ’s birth.

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Solo: Child of Love

Text & Music: Steve Hindalong, Mark D. Lee, Matthew West

Hymn: Once in Royal David’s City

1. Once in royal David’s city
   Stood a lowly cattle shed,
   Where a mother laid her baby
   In a manger for His bed;
   Mary was that mother mild,
   Jesus Christ her little child.

2. Not in that poor lowly stable
   With the oxen standing by
   Shall we see Him but in heaven,
   Set at God’s right hand on high
   Then like stars His children crowned
   All in white, His praise will sound.

WS 710
©Public Domain

Full Sun: John 1:1-5,10-14

John unfolds the mystery of the incarnation.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it…He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Confession of faith

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. He did this that I should be His very own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and joy; just as He is risen from death, lives and reigns in eternity. This is most certainly true.

[Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Church Choir:

O Holy Night

Arr: Rene Clausen, Accompanist: Bonnie Cornish

Angels We Have Heard on High

Arr: Linda Paschal Gingrich

Christmas Meditation

I. Christmas’ Dawn in Heaven

Ephesians 1:4; Luke 15:7; Luke 2:13; 1 Peter 1:12

Do you have your Christmas shopping done? “That’s a silly question,” you say, “because after all, today is Christmas!”

But what I mean is, do you have your Christmas shopping done for next year? Or for 2007? Some complete their gift buying and preparation weeks or even months in advance of Christmas; and some will make purchases in the coming days for next year. But it is completely safe to say that the pre-schoolers who last night told us about Jesus’ birth will not be buying gifts for their grandchildren’s first Christmas anytime soon—not even the high school students will be doing that, not even we 30-somethings. There is a limit to how far in advance one can prepare a gift, especially if the one receiving the gift isn’t even born.

There is a limit to early Christmas gift-gathering—a limit, that is, when you yourself are limited. But God is unlimited and as the limitless God He planned our Christmas gift from eternity—before He ever created a single human being. “…[God] chose us in connection with [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

God is so great and so gracious that He planned our souls’ salvation from eternity, and when the holy all-powerful God plans something, it is done! The only thing left at that point is for time to catch up with His purpose. When the fullness of time had come, God did send forth His Son (cf. Galatians 3:4).

When God gave you His long-planned Christmas gift, Christmas dawned in heaven. For God, Christmas dawned by giving glory to His name. The fulfillment of His promises and the gift of a Savior to sinners who rebelled against Him all testified to His faithfulness and to His amazing love.

For the souls of the Old Testament believers already taken to heaven, Christmas dawned fulfilling God’s promises in which they had placed their trust and through which they had found salvation.

For the angels, it was the joy of seeing their great and glorious Creator accomplish His will. Peter tells us that the ways of God and His salvation are “things the angels desire to look into” (cf. 1 Peter 1:12). Jesus tells us that the angels of heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents and is brought into salvation (cf. Luke 15:7). Thus, when the one angel messenger was sent to earth to declare the news of Jesus’ birth, Christmas dawned in heaven; and then, the joy of all the angels in heaven overflowed to the earth as the multitude of angels appeared to the shepherds and proclaimed: “Glory to God in the highest!” (Luke 2:13).